Sudipto Moitra, GM: ICT Solutions, MTN Business

MTN Business is on an aggressive track to meet the growing cloud and datacentre needs of its clients, and, as a technology company, is looking to leverage the markets and locations in which it has a presence. While much of its focus is on South Africa at present, it also has a footprint across the rest of Africa, and recognises that there is potential to grow its virtual services more widely.

From a datacentre perspective, MTN operates 30-plus datacentre facilities nationwide, with a presence in all major metropolitan areas, and over 60 in Africa. Additionally, it extends its reach to remote locations by utilising its remote hubs and switches, which were originally deployed for its mobile network. With MTN’s multi-point communication (MCS) capabilities, it has enabled Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroon to provide local cloud facilities, solving data sovereignty and latency concerns.

“Our partnerships add another layer over and above our datacentre hosting,” says Sudipto Moitra, MTN Business general manager for ICT Solutions. “We partner with several reputable and well-known hyperscalers, including Microsoft Azure, and develop our strategic partnerships, so that clients can leverage best-fit platforms. The latest innovative solutions are structured so that our platforms are relevant to each client and their market sector.”

MTN Business also extends its services to private cloud through its server virtualisation platform. Offerings in this space range from a starter package for SMMEs requiring just one vCPU, to solutions for large enterprises needing up to 64 vCPUs.

“Top of mind is that MTN’s cloud and datacentre solutions continually enhance data protection and operational continuity for our clients. Alongside our partners’ solutions, we also have our own, yellow-labelled platforms.” On the subject of hybrid cloud, Moitra says that MTN Business is witnessing a significant demand from clients for service integrators, platforms and partners with creative B2B offerings and recommends colocation as an option. Colocation clients that wish to leverage MTN’s partnership with Microsoft can opt for services like Azure Stack HCI, he adds.

“Graphic processing units (GPUs), which are able to take on computationally intensive tasks, indicate that the ‘traditional’ way of computing is still relevant, but clients are looking for more efficient and cost-effective ways to look at cloud and data processing,” says Moitra.

“Another trend we are seeing on the datacentre side include a huge demand for high-density server racks, which are typically used for GPU hosting. Some providers even offer GPU-as-a-Service, to host supporting services, such as machine learning and to leverage other AI technologies. “At MTN Business, we offer professional advisory and consultancy services for clients needing assistance with transitioning to the cloud, as well as proactive monitoring and support services, including resource utilisation and vulnerability assessments. Our platform offerings encompass virtualisation, cloud, management and networking platforms, the last including managed services and SD-WAN.

“Our datacentres are specifically designed to host transmission, data, and telecommunication equipment, constructed and maintained to be compliant with international standards and certifications for high reliability. The infrastructure for these services is built with 100% redundancy to ensure continuous uptime for third-party equipment and multiple locations for disaster recovery. The transmission network is carrier-neutral and includes at least two access routes to maintain reliability and performance,” concludes Moitra.

For more information on how MTN Business can co-create solutions for your business, contact us on MTNBusiness.Marketing@mtn.com